In early February, the much-anticipated first round of the Champions League knockout rounds officially began; in mid-March, the second round also took place as scheduled.
In the respective duels between the top four in La Liga, many strong dialogues made the audience very enjoyable to watch.
Real Madrid vs. Manchester United and Barcelona vs. Milan. These two sets of contests are one of the most eye-catching games.
At Old Trafford and the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid and Manchester United gave fans two exciting battles.
Ferguson's quick attack, which he is best at, and Mourinho's quick counterattack, which he is best at, collided and sparked.
From the first minute, the game entered a fast-paced contest. These two teams have met many times in history, and the coaches of the two teams were old rivals in the Premier League. The players and coaches are familiar with each other. There is no secret in this kind of game, just do it!
On Real Madrid's side, the combination of Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema and Di Maria is comprehensive; while on Manchester United's side, the combination of Rooney, Dong Fangzhuo and Yu Hai is full of momentum.
In the first half of the first round, old friends Rooney and Ronaldo each scored twice, and the two teams tied 2-2.
In the second half, the game changed sides again. Giggs and Scholes teamed up to score a goal. Alonso and Modric also responded with a wonderful one-two and a close-range volley. These four old midfield rivals in the Premier League faced off against Maimang today.
In the end, the first leg ended in a 3-3 draw at the Bernabeu, with the two teams evenly matched.
In the second round of the game, Ronaldo, who returned to Old Trafford, was in great form. Although Dong Fangzhuo and Yu Hai helped Manchester United lead 2-0 at home in the first half, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick with his head and kick in the second half to help the team finally win. Won Manchester United 3-2.
After scoring the goal, Ronaldo clasped his hands and expressed his apology to this stadium he loved. However, for other Real Madrid players and fans, it was a great feeling to step on the corpse of Manchester United and advance to the Champions League quarter-finals.
Real Madrid's promotion is very difficult, and Barcelona faces great challenges.
The departure of Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva has caused Milan, which was still aiming to win the championship last season, to suffer a serious decline in form this season.
Coupled with the departure of many veterans such as Inzaghi, Gattuso, Nesta, Seedorf, etc., Milan is in a very difficult transition period.
But despite this, they still have great experience and psychological advantages in the Champions League.
In the defense, Mexes is in great form this season, and goalkeeper Abbiati has also performed stably; in the center, the Italian national team-level combination of Ambrosini, Montolivo and Nocerino has comprehensive strength; and on the forward line, The talented striker combination of Balotelli, Robinho and El Shaarawi is also extremely impactful.
In the first round at Camp Nou, the two teams tied 1-1. Talented striker Balotelli scored Milan's only goal, and Pique also used a corner kick to equalize the score. The two teams were evenly matched.
However, in this game, Barcelona's soul figure Messi was absent due to injury, and Milan's Chinese No. 10 Zheng Zhi also missed the game because of a cold.
Returning to San Siro in the second round, both sides have a complete lineup.
This time Messi became the dominant figure in the game, perhaps stimulated by Ronaldo's hat trick. Messi performed a hat trick in the first half, directly setting the score at 3-0. Barcelona is expected to advance!
However, Zheng Zhi, who returned from injury in the second half, came on as a substitute. He scored two shots and one pass, scoring three goals by himself, helping Milan even the score to 3-3!
Milan's key man saved the team again!
Unfortunately, in the end, this score could not send Milan to the Champions League quarter-finals. Because of the disadvantage of away goals, the Milanese could only watch Barcelona advance in danger.
However, after the game, Messi took the initiative to find Zheng Zhi and exchanged jerseys with the Chinese captain.
"Man, your performance in this game was great. In recent seasons, the performance of Chinese players has been really amazing," Messi said with a self-deprecating shrug. "Take this season as an example. There are already several players.”
Zheng Zhi frowned: "I'm very happy to receive your praise. But for my personal performance, I hope the team can win. The team's victory is the most important thing."
Holding Zheng Zhi's Milan No. 10 jersey and watching Zheng Zhi walking to the court to comfort Balotelli, Messi suddenly felt a special feeling.
This Chinese captain does have the temperament of a captain. He just defended fiercely on the court and knocked himself down twice. However, as soon as the game was over, he was quiet and peaceful as if nothing happened. Even if he was in a bad mood, he was the first to comfort him. teammate.
We will definitely have many opportunities to play against each other in the future, maybe not just in the Champions League...
Real Madrid and Barcelona both advanced, and another La Liga team, Valencia, also passed the test.
Their opponent is Porto. Although they are not a team in the five major leagues, their strength cannot be underestimated.
In the end, Valencia's total score of 3 to 2 in the two rounds eliminated the only team in the Portuguese Super League, following the footsteps of Real Madrid and Barcelona and reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
However, another La Liga team is not going so smoothly. Atletico Madrid’s opponent is Paris Saint-Germain. This season, Paris Saint-Germain has recruited players and spent a lot of money. They have Thiago Silva on the defense line and Lavezzi and Junior on the offensive line. Lucas, especially the center they rely on most, Ibrahimovic, has become the focus of the two games.
In the two rounds of games, Paris won 2-1 and reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League with a total score of 4-2.
Ibrahimovic scored four goals and was the brightest star in the game.
Although Atletico Madrid also performed well, they still failed to advance due to Ibrahimovic's extraordinary performance.
It is worth mentioning that shortly after the start of the second round, Zhao Zhuri used a world wave to help the team lead 1-0. For a time, Atletico Madrid fans saw hope of a comeback, but in the end their hopes were disappointed. .
The top four teams in La Liga were promoted to three teams, and they performed very well this time. The promotion rate in the Bundesliga is not small either.
Dortmund easily defeated Shakhtar, with a total score of 6 to 1 in the two rounds, without any bloodshed.
Schalke 04 played against Galatasaray, with a total score of 4 to 3 in the two rounds. The two games were similar.
After winning 2-1 in the first round, Schalke 04 almost fell to Galatasaray's devilish home court in the second round.
The Turkish team gained a 2-0 advantage in the first half, and the total score was 3-2. Schalke 04 was on the verge of elimination.
However, in the second half, Schalke 04 launched a wave of extremely efficient attacks. Not long after the opening, Hao Junmin used a scalpel-like direct pass to accurately find Huntelaar. The Dutch center fired a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty area to regain the goal. One goal!
2 to 1! The two teams are back on the same starting line!
In the 81st minute of the game, Hao Junmin once again showed his power.
His direct free kick outside the penalty area went straight into the upper right corner of the net!
2 to 2! Huaguo's No. 7 helped the team equalize the score!
Now Schalke 04 not only leads the total score by one goal, but also has the away goal advantage. If the opponent wants to advance, they must score two goals in the next ten minutes.
Schalke 04 certainly will not give their opponents such a chance.
The last ten minutes were very exciting, with both teams getting one red and two yellows each, but in the end Schalke 04 had the last laugh.
The biggest contributor to Schalke 04's promotion was Hao Junmin, and Chinese players such as Zheng Zhi, Zhao Zhuri, Dong Fangzhuo, and Yu Hai also performed well. In this Champions League knockout round, the Chinese players performed extremely well!
Although they performed extremely well in these games, it was the other games where Chinese players really shined in Europe...
